From St. Louis to Cooperstown: Legends Born and Made in the Gateway City

Baseball fans know the heroics of St. Louis baseball legends Hornsby, Dean, Musial, Schoendienst, Gibson, and Brock--or at least they know their names. They must have been great ball players because their images are painted on Busch Stadium's left field wall honoring their retired uniform numbers and their inductions into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. But the mural only highlights 13 of the 55 players inducted into the Hall of Fame who played for the National League's St. Louis Cardinals. Who are these other players and what are their stories? And what about the nine men from the American League's St. Louis Browns whose plaques also hang in Cooperstown? Who are they and what are their stories? For nearly a century, baseball was a segregated game. Prior to Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier in 1947, African Americans' love of baseball was focused on the many teams of the Negro Leagues. St. Louis had two of the league's best with the St. Louis Giants and Stars. Thirty-seven members of the Negro Leagues have been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Five have ties to the Giants and the Stars. Who were they and what made each of them stand out over the thousands of African Americans playing in the league? These collective stories go beyond the individual and record-setting careers that made each a Hall of Famer. Walk through the chronology of baseball history and the moments each player had on their roads to Cooperstown. Along the way, find out which former Cardinal held baseball's career home run record for over a quarter of a century before being topped by Babe Ruth. Which player was named after a president and was later played by a future president in his life story? Although he retired one hundred years ago, only Babe Ruth and Ted Williams have a higher career on base percentage than this former St. Louis player. How many games did baseball's winningest pitcher win in St. Louis? And which St. Louisan reached 300 wins before him? These are just a few of the trinkets of information to be found in this anthology of players who found their way from St. Louis to Cooperstown.